RIPPLE IN THE WATERS: The world's fourth biggest cryptocurrency is surging again

Ripple is rising strongly against the dollar.REUTERS/Michael BuholzerPrices for the cryptocurrency Ripple have been on a tear this week.

While valuations for Bitcoin and Ethereum — the world's two biggest cryptocurrencies — have eased back since Monday, Ripple has seen strong demand.

Bitcoin Cash has also fallen, but after last week's price increase it's still the third biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, with Ripple demoted to fourth.

But money is flowing back into Ripple this week — here's the latest move against the US dollar, which marks around a 60% gain from its weekend value: Investing.com

Ripple tokens are traded on the Ripple network, which has been operational since 2012.

The network is based on an open-source protocol and was designed so that transactions are approved via the consensus of its participants.

That reduces the reliance on centralised exchanges to facilitate transactions and allows for increased volume compared to the Bitcoin blockchain.

According to the company's website, Ripple is focused on increasing the speed of international transactions between financial institutions. It's backed by venture capitalists including Andreessen Horowitz and Google Ventures.

According to coindesk.com, trading volume in Ripple tokens has surged higher on activity in South Korean markets. The report said that three cryptocurrency currency exchanges based in South Korea accounted for over 70% of the volume for Ripple tokens over the last 24 hours.

According to the website coinmarketcap.com, there are more than 38 billion Ripple tokens in circulation. At current values of above US28 cents, that gives Ripple a market capitalisation of $US10.6 billion.